The Bird and Bear are back in a whole new adventure, but with a Little twist Real Score: 9.4
The older games focused on Kazooie moves, which would be like flying, shooting eggs, and the ability to climb steep hills. Well this is all gone in Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. Instead of the traditional platforming and Kazooie moves, we are introduced to the game's biggest pull, User created content and Vehicles.
So the story plays out like this. Banjo-Kazooie have been doing well.. nothing since Grunty was defeated at the end of Banjo-Tooie. So our Heroes have well put on weight, and they are not in shape to do anything other then eat pizza and play Xbox. So of course Grunty is not really dead yet and we see that she has lost everything other then her skull.. so Banjo goes to see what is going on. upon there meeting it looks like Banjo and Kazooie where going to duke it out, however they are interrupted by a new character LOG or Lord of All Games, who is tired of the constant fighting between the two.. he then has them complete in a little game, the winner of this will keep spiral mountain while the other must spend an eternity in Log's Video game factory. While that is a little lame, the writing is very funny and pokes fun at themselves and other games. Its a very funny game story wise. I don't want to give anything away so play the game and you will know what i mean :)
So like i said Kazooie moves are gone, instead she is given a magical wrench that does a number of different things. you can attack with it, you can pick up pretty much anything in the world, and you can use it to build vehicles.
So one of the biggest differences in this game is the vehicle customization. To collect jiggies and other collectibles throughout the game you must complete different challenges that require vehicles, although some i found you can do without any vehicles. So you can do almost anything you want. you are given tons of different parts that you will collect as you progress through the game. you have different engines, weapons, fuel tanks, and other do-hickies you can add to your creation like sticky ball (which latches on to anything and pulls it with you) and many other things like that. the coolest thing is that its very easy to use and build however you have to be smart and be aware of physics of cars. so making one end filled with sinkers and heavy blocks, and other end with nothing, will not be a smart choice. you are also not limited to any particular area, you can make a land based vehicle, a air based vehicle, a water vehicle, or all three in a mega car that can do all. The creation tools are only beaten by games like Spore and LBP, other wise i would say this is the most robust creation tool in any game..
So while making cool vehicles is one thing the main purpose is to use them to complete the wide variety of challenges. They can be things like races, escort missions, battles, mini games, and collecting things. the best thing about all of the (player-choice) missions is that there are multiple ways to complete a mission. unlike some games where you only have one set way in doing something, Depending on your vehicle will have you do the mission differently then someone with a different one.
For example there is a mission in the where you need to put old Grabbed by the Ghoulies games in the trash can. there was a number of ways i could do this. 1. I could build a car that has a cargo carry and simply put all of them in the "trunk" and fly them up to the Trash can. 2. I could put a spring and launch them to the can. 3 i could knock over the trash can with a large vehicle or sticky ball and move the trash can to the games, do it reverse. This is just one example of changing the game and it being different for each person.
so i bet your wondering where this game takes place. well you are introduced into a new Hub world called Showdown Town, which is a major GIANT city where there are all kinds of places to explore see. This is where all the Level doors are and where all the lovable characters from older games are. plus a few new ones. Some of the characters you will meet are Mumbo Jumbo, who is in charge of the vehicles, Humba Wumba, who operates a store which has blueprints and parts up for sale. Klungo who operates his own arcade which includes a very fun mini game. King Jingaling who has Jingo Bingo. Bottes who is the tour guide, Jolly Roger (or Dodger in this game) who has an underground "Black Market" which he sells Jiggies at expensive prices. Also Boggy who owns a gym and trains you (gets your abilities higher) other character you will see includes capt. Blubber, and Mr. Fit. Along with the old recurring characters comes a few new ones. Along with LOG we have Piddles who is the new sidekick of Grunty, TT Thomas who is a very competitive characters who will give you TT trophies if you beat his high score. (having these will give you extra jiggies) Pikelet who is the courrupt police chief of Showdown town. Just goes to show you that all the fan favorites of older games make an appearance in Banjo N&B.
So the game has a 6 levels not including Showdowntown. Each level has a number of different acts that have new challenges. The first level is Nutty Acres, which is your basic bring colorful cheery world where you have lots of grass, trees, water, and Volcanoes? its a very cute and perfect first stage. Next is Logbox 720 which is LOG's take on making a video game console. being a ripoff of the Xbox 360, this level shows you what goes on inside of video game console. Lots of cool mechanical things inside. very creative if you ask me.. next is Banjo-Land which is a museum of all things Banjo. Its pretty much bits and pieces of old Banjo Stages all rolled into one. Fan will def. recognize things from the older games. The Jiggoseum is like a sports world where you compete in a bunch of mini games dealing with sports. Terrarium of Terror is an over grown space level which has a very eerie feel and fits on being one of the later stages of the game. And finally Spiral Mountain, which needs no introduction.
Its kinda hard to describe Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts because its so different from any other game i have ever played. the reason being that its impossible to put into a genre. This is a hybrid of Platforming (mostly in Showdown Town), Racing (vehicles), Mission Based, Collect-a-thon, Sandbox, and user generated content all rolled into one game. while it would seem to clash, it really does a great job in mixing all those parts into an enjoyable experience. It all flows well and if you give it a chance the game is amazing.
While there are a lot going for Banjo, the game is not perfect.. The vehicles especially the land based ones are "touchy" making a smooth feeling car is harder then you think. There is a multiplayer feature in Banjo, and while its fun for a little bit, the single player just is so much better then any multiplayer part. it could have been better, but what it does is well.. decent. Another thing is this game is not for everyone. The game will catch on to people with large imaginations and love of building. while people expecting a next gen Banjo-remake will find out that this game is vastly different for the better.
Overall when you look at Banjo you see a BIG chance and Rare had the guts to pull off something amazing. While people will turn there heads at the thought of this game Not being an FPS bloody game, def. give this game a chance this is definitely one of the best platforming, and well best Family games of 2008. Any 360 owner who wants a new experience and a game like no other should definitely check out Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts
Breakdown
Gameplay- The game is split up between collecting jiggies, parts, and music notes, building, and completing the various missions to earn Jiggies to eventually beat the game. All of these parts are extremely enjoyable for the mostpart
Graphics: One the best uses of Color on the Xbox 360. The characters, levels and world have a great personality. And for the last time, Banjo is not Square! One of the better looking games of the year
Sound: great Original Tracks and mixes of older ones.. I love the music in the game but a few more tracks would have been great. Also Car sound effects have a cartoony sounds which fits the mood of the game
Value: for 40 bucks these days is great. you get a game well worth 60 bucks, for a cheap price. add in over 100 jiggies to collect, tons of TT trophies, and Online play extends the life of this game a lot. Not to mention the limitless replay value of creating different vehicles and sharing them online
Overall: one of the most enjoyable games of the year.. along with a few other Banjo-Kazooie is well worth playing no matter of age.. you should give this a try. Go and pick up this Gem, you will not look back.